EAST Lancashire MP Nigel Evans has called on Health Department and Home Office ministers to ensure that anyone who hits a hospital worker will find it is "the quickest way of getting from a hospital ward to a prison cell".
At Health Questions in the Commons yesterday he said it was "staggering" that more and more frequently on Friday and Saturday nights health staff were assaulted in accidents and emergency units by patients "quite high on drugs or drunk".
The Ribble Valley Tory called for more police support for casualty wards and a clear message violence and verbal abuse to NHS staff would not be tolerated.
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